Norfolk, VA Special Events & Permits: Block Party Permits (2026)

Norfolk Code § 29-69(a) makes it unlawful to conduct a block party or street fair on any city street or other public place without a permit from the city manager. The application goes to the director of public works, must be filed 60 days before the event, and must state the date, time, and the specific streets or public places to be used, plus any other information the director of public works requires. Applicants must deposit $100 with the director of public works to cover processing, on top of a further sum sufficient to cover the cost of the city personnel, equipment, and material the event will use, such as police officers for traffic control or barricades for the closure.

Subsection (b) gives the city manager discretion to grant the permit unless he believes the event will unreasonably interfere with public use of the streets or places involved, or will tend to disturb or imperil public safety or the public peace, in which case he must deny it. The city manager also has standing authority to temporarily close any street affected by an approved block party or street fair whenever, in his judgment, public safety requires it, even after the permit is issued.

The ordinance was adopted by Ord. No. 34,627 on July 21, 1987, and amended by Ord. No. 39,182 on May 26, 1998. A cross-reference elsewhere in the code confirms § 29-69 as the governing block-party-and-street-fair permit section citywide.